


they lit up the inside of the moon

by s-sokka (poesidone)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Med Student Katara, Meet-Cute, Other, artist yue, bc I said so, nb yue, sorry this is kinda bad, uhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27462802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poesidone/pseuds/s-sokka
Summary: "Katara wasn’t really sure what she had been expecting when Sokka had told her that they were going to the art gallery opening of one of his College Writing II classmates, but this was not it."Katara gets dragged to a student art installation and meets the artist. The very beautiful artist.
Relationships: Katara/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	they lit up the inside of the moon

**Author's Note:**

> based on this prompt from ben!!
> 
> "maybe some modern au yuetara ? where yue is an art student and katara attends her mini gallery opening and is jus like Wow and then meets the artist and is like WOW 🥺👉👈"
> 
> ben i am sorry this is kinda bad but i hope you enjoy it at least a little bit
> 
> not proofread, feel free to tell me if you notice any mistakes
> 
> title from "where are all the scientists now?' by jukebox the ghost. completely unrelated to this fic, but i liked the line lol

“No,” Katara was getting fed up. “I don’t understand why you’re being so insistent that I come with you to this stupid gallery opening thing! I don’t even know this person!”

“Oh, come one, Katara!” Sokka pleaded. “We’ll be there for like 30 minutes max! We’re just stopping in to support them and their art and then leave. Besides, can you even remember the last time you left the apartment that wasn’t for class? When was this last time you took a break, Katara?”

Katara sighed, she couldn’t actually remember the last time she left the apartment that she and her older brother shared that wasn’t for class, but there was no way she was going to tell Sokka that. He was probably right, she did need to get out of the house and take a break from studying, as much as she hated to admit that her brother was right. 

“Fine!” She threw her hands up in defeat, if she was giving in she was going to at least make a show of it. “I’ll go to this art thing with you!”

Sokka grinned widely. “Great!” he paused to look her up and down. “Yeah, what you’re wearing now should probably be fine. I’m not really sure what they said the dress code for the event was.”

Katara looked down at her outfit; she was wearing a white, long-sleeved off the shoulder blouse with blue embroidery and a long floor-length blue skirt. She actually quite liked this outfit, she had picked it out last time she went shopping with Suki.

“Okay, whatever,” She rolled her eyes. “What time does this thing start at?”

“7:30,” Sokka replied from his seated position at the kitchen table.

Katara checked her watch. “Sokka! It’s already 7:20! We’re going to be late!”

Sokka looked at his phone to confirm that Katara was indeed telling the truth about the time. “Oh man, you’re right. Let’s get going then!”

He grabbed his keys off the table with a smile and swept out the front door. Katara rolled her eyes as she was left with no choice but to follow him out to the car.

* * *

Katara wasn’t really sure what she had been expecting when Sokka had told her that they were going to the art gallery opening of one of his College Writing II classmates, but this was not it. She had never been in the art building before, she was studying pre-med, so she had never had any reason to venture into the tall, brick building. She followed Sokka in, huffing under her breath when he didn’t even bother to hold the door for her, and was immediately impressed by the architecture of the place.

“Oh!” Sokka exclaimed. “I have to go talk to some people real quick, meet you by the installation?”

Katara nodded in agreement and Sokka smiled before jogging over to a small group of people by one of the far windows.

Katara stopped for a moment to admire the space, the high ceilings and the soft light being shed by the intricately sculpted chandeliers. Her eyes drifted toward the far wall of the large room, which was covered with paintings made with every shade of blue Katara could imagine. She assumed that this was the art she was brought here to look at, and started making her way through the small crowd of people towards it to get a better look.

As she approached the wall of artwork, she began to be able to make out the shapes and images that all the shades of blue formed. In the center of the wall was a large canvas, probably about a 6x6 square. The painting was of the moon, and as she got closer Katara began to notice all the detail and texture of the painting. Each crater had the kind of depth that almost made it look like a sculpture. She came to a stop in front of the painting and admired the shades and shapes. She didn’t know much about art, but she could tell that this was a really good painting. Even though the subject of the painting was simple, just the moon, it somehow gave off a feeling of a bittersweet sort of nostalgia.

She shifted her focus to the vertical rectangular canvases on either side of the moon painting. These paintings were much smaller, each of them depicting a beautifully detailed koi fish, The one on the left of the moon was painted in a shade of blue so dark it almost looked black, and the one on the right was painted with a shade so light it almost looked white. They were each other’s opposites, complementary and unique, but still somehow felt like they were mirror images of each other. Katara figured they must be related to the large moon in between them, and looked around the paintings to see if there was a card with some sort of description or explanation, but all she could find was a card that said “Yue, they/them, junior Fine Arts major”, whom she assumed was the artist. She looked on the other side of the installation to see if the description card was on the other side, but her search was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around, expecting to be her brother and was ready to snap at him, but was startled to see someone else whom she didn’t recognize. They had stark white hair, tied up on the top of their head, showing off an undercut with wave patterns shaved into it. They had warm brown skin and even warmer brown eyes that Katara could get lost in if she didn’t think that was a creepy thing to do.

“Oh, uh-- hi,” Katara shook away those thoughts and stumbled through a greeting, startled not only because she had been expecting her brother, but because whoever this person was, they were  _ incredibly _ good-looking.

“Hi,” the beautiful person smiled and Katara felt her cheeks warm, hopefully not too noticeably. She didn’t want this person to think she was weird or something. “Are you enjoying the artwork?” they asked.

“Huh? Oh--uh, the artwork! Yes!” Katara got out. “It’s very beautiful, I like that the artist only painted in shades of blue, I think it really makes the pieces feel like part of a set.” She hoped she didn’t sound ridiculous, talking about things she knew nothing about.

The mysterious person grinned and Katara had to look back at the paintings so they wouldn’t see her blush, which was definitely noticeable this time. “I think that was probably their intention when choosing these colors. They were probably hoping that people would think that the pieces felt like they belonged together.”

Katara looked back at the attractive stranger. “Oh, you’re the artist, aren’t you?”

The person’s smile widened. “What gave it away?” They stuck out their hand for Katara to shake. “I’m Yue, it’s nice to meet you.”

Katara tried to inconspicuously wipe her sweaty palm on her skirt before taking their hand. It was unsurprisingly very soft and also not sweaty at all. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Can I ask what your name is?” Yue gently dropped their hand back to their side and Katara tried not to mourn the loss of it against her own too much.

“Oh, right! I’m Katara, she/her pronouns,” Katara replied, fiddling with the end of one of her hair loopies. It was an old nervous habit that she had thought she was rid of. Apparently not.

“So, what brings you here tonight, Katara?” Yue asked, turning to face Katara more than the artwork. “I’ve never seen you in the art building before.”

“Oh, my brother was planning on coming tonight and he decided I needed to get out of the house and took me with him,” she looked around to see if she could spot Sokka, but he was nowhere to be seen. “He’s around here somewhere.”

“Who’s your brother?” Yue asked. 

“His name is Sokka, he’s in your College Writing class?” Katara wasn’t sure why it came out as a question.

“Oh, Sokka!” Yue smiled. “He’s great! We’ve been partners for a couple of assignments and he’s really funny.”

“Funny?” Katara quirked a brow at Yue. “We must be talking about different people, the Sokka I know has never been funny in his life.”

“Hey!” Sokka suddenly materialized behind them, making both of them jump, their hands briefly brushing against each other, much to Katara’s delight. “I’m funny and you know it! Remember that time when Dad was trying to make dinner for his date with Bato and I said--”

“Yeah, Sokka, I remember. You bring that up like, every other day,” Katara was irritated at his sudden appearance interrupting her conversation with Yue, even though it was making her nervous, having their attention so focused on her. Yue who was now giggling at Katara’s obvious annoyance at her brother. Katara grinned, pleased to have made Yue laugh.

Sokka looked at both of them, and Katara could see the wheels turning inside his head, which was probably not a good sign.

“Well, you two seem to be getting along really well,” Sokka said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Katara. She frowned and opened her mouth to tell him to leave them alone, but Yue spoke before she could get a word out.

“Yeah,” they said, turning to smile at Katara, who quickly schooled her face back into a more pleasant expression. “You never told me your sister was so cool.”

“She’s not,” Sokka responded instinctively, before clearing his throat and saying, “Or, uh, I guess she can be.”

Katara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, thanks, Sokka. Hey, why don’t you go talk to those people you were talking to earlier?”

Sokka grinned. “Well, I did come here tonight to look at the art, but if you two want another moment alone I guess I can accommodate.” 

“Yeah, would you?” Yue smiled at him sweetly and Sokka laughed.

“Okay,” He agreed. “Katara, meet me by the door we came in through when you’re ready, kay?”

“Okay, see you later,” she nodded, and he saluted them before turning around and going back to chat some more with the group from earlier.

“So,” Yue turned back to smile at Katara. “Sorry if this is too forward of me, but would you maybe wanna get coffee together sometime? Maybe tomorrow?”

Katara blinked for a moment, unsure if she was hearing them correctly. “You want to get coffee? With me? Like a date?”

“Yeah,” they responded easily. “Unless you’re not interested, which is totally fine too.”

Katara quickly pulled out her phone and unlocked it before handing it to Yue. “No, I’m definitely interested. If you put your number in I can text you and we can make plans?”

Yue smiled and took the phone from Katara. “Sounds great to me.”

“Cool,” Katara let out a breath as she watched Yue type in their number and shoot themself a quick text from Katara’s phone.

Yue looked up and handed Katara’s phone back, before turning to look over her shoulder at where Sokka was watching them extremely unsubtly. When he saw that they had noticed him, he waved and smiled brightly.

Yue giggled to themself and turned back to Katara. “You should probably go tell him he doesn’t need to try to set us up with each other anymore.”

Katara nodded with a smile on her face. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” she shifted her weight between her feet, trying to make the moment last a little longer before leaving. “So, uh, I’ll text you when I get home and we can make plans for tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Yue smiled then gently nudged Katara toward her brother. “The sooner you get going the sooner you can do that.”

“You’re right, I’ll talk to you later,” Katara nodded and started walking toward Sokka, who was watching this interaction with a shit-eating grin on his face. She braced herself for the teasing she would have to endure from him for the rest of the night. 

It would be worth it though, she thought as she smiled to herself. Totally worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr @s-sokka


End file.
